Capture your ideas in high quality wherever you are with the PreSonus AudioBox USB 2x2 USB recording system.

What can be more clever and handy than employing a 1-stop recording solution whether you are a seasoned professional or new to the recording world? What if that solution just happened to yield 1st class, audiophile results in a compact, feature rich package with a very inviting price tag? Well then we’d be talking about the Presonus AudioBox USB!

The Presonus AudioBox USB is a 2x2 recording system powered by USB bus. It features 2 microphone/instrument inputs on the front panel with 48V phantom power, 2 balanced TRS outputs and MIDI in/out around the back. Presonus has collected multiple awards for their mic preamplifier technology over the years so it’s of no great surprise that the mic pres on the AudioBox sound stellar, yielding little noise and boasting specs rivaled by pricey boutique pre amps costing thousands of dollars more. You’ll enjoy a pure, rich, clean sound that truly allows your trusted microphones to “be themselves” and shine right through unscathed. High-quality, 24-bit A/D digital conversion ensures that your recorded signal remains pure and true to the source, mostly due to the 102dB dynamic range. Outputs include 2 main ¼” outs, a stereo headphone output.

The Presonus AudioBox USB is housed in a sturdy, metal frame and accented with sturdy metal knobs. It’s a welcome sight and feel for anyone who’s had experience with affordable audio solutions but were left somewhat cold due to the less-than-sturdy construction and details of those designs. This is not so with the AudioBox USB.

Now to make this package a truly amazing deal, Presonus has included their very own exceptional software package, Studio One Artist for Mac OS X and Windows XP and Vista helps make producing high-quality projects easier than ever before. As part of the Studio One Artist package, you get 20 new PreSonus Native Effects plug-ins and virtual instruments and a generous bundle of third-party loops, software, and instrument sounds. Gigabytes of third-party resources include Native Instruments™ Kore™ Player with custom SoundPack (150 instruments), Native Instruments™ Guitar Rig LE, Toontrack™ EZDrummer Lite, and over 1.4 GB of loops!

This is one of the most 'beginner' friendly units on the market at a great price point for a novice to justify. The recording system features 2 input on the front and 2 TRS outputs with MIDI in/out on the back of the unit. Presonus includes 20 pre-loaded plug-ins, 4 virtual instruments, and multiple third-party resources making the possibilities nearly limitless.

This unit is a no-brainer for any amateur producer who still desires quality on a budget.

This unit makes clicks after the sound terminates. Those clicks drive the amplifier to non-linearity and you can hear the resulting cackling noise as well. Don't buy this unit if you want to record anything. In fact Sam should take it off the catalog. No one has paid me to say this and I had to send mine back because it was totally un-useable.

If you have windows 10 you should forget about this product. Windows 10 will not install the driver because it says that the driver is "corrupt or invalid". The web site is no help because it just sends you around and around in circles until you get frustrated with the whole thing. There is no reason why it can't be made to install with 1 click. They are just too lazy to modify the code for windows 10. I am returning it to try something else.

I am very impressed with the audiobox. I record acoustic and electric guitar along with some vocals. I've read some reviews about the preamps being too hot. I have had NO trouble with them. If anything, they are just barely not hot enough. The construction is strong and sturdy.

There are only two downsides. The head phone jack is in the back of the box...big deal. Also, it comes with Studio One Artist instead of Studio One Pro. I didn't realize this when I bought it. Pay the little extra to get the Pro version.

If you are recording electric guitar, you might want to use a separate preamp or mixer to adjust the tone. I tried going through a series of effects pedals and directly into the audiobox. It sounded a little trebley, but still had a good sound. I like more of a fatter sound so I run through a mixer to adjust the tone. I would definitely recommend this product.

The Preamps are great but when you plug in a condenser, even with the gains all the way down you will peak it out every time (no pad.) Why bother with phantom power if you dont have the headroom. great for low level recordings though.